The Camedia C-8080 is a new design for
an Olympus C-series camera, and one that is likely to win over
many users. The magnesium alloy body is finished in a flecked
black paint, and covered on the front of the grip area, and around
the lens barrel with textured black rubber.
The smooth contours of the grip are
designed to mate with the C-8080's accessory grip (Power Battery
Holder B-HLD30), which adds a vertical shutter capability
and doubles the battery capacity.
The design of the C-8080 is a
major departure from earlier C-cameras such as the C-5060. The
shutter release for instance is now completely separate from
the zoom control.
The Shutter Release, angled at 45° on the upper part of the
grip, provides auto focus lock when held at mid-course and an AEL button
within easy reach nearby serves to lock the exposure if needed.
With the C-8080 the Zoom has
its own control, placed atop the right front of the grip. As
usual, the control doubles as a way to see thumbnails of the
captured photos in Playback, or magnify a photo shown on the
monitor up to 5X.
In addition to the zoom control, the top right of the C-8080 supports the Power
Switch, the Custom button and
the Mode Dial(see the Characteristics section of the review
for an explanation of the recording modes available).
The Custom button's default
setting is to call up the ISO options (Auto, 50, 64, 80, 100,
125, 160, 200, 250, 320, 400 ISO) which are displayed on the
monitor or EVF.
Selecting a particular setting is done by turning the Control Dial,
a wheel that protrudes from the back of the C-8080, above the top right
corner of the LCD monitor. While as noted above the Custom button offers
a fast route to the C-8080's ISO setting, it can also be reprogrammed for
another function, hence its name of Custom button. Any one of an
additional 22 settings can be assigned to the Custom button.
On the top left side, the C-8080
offers additional controls, starting with the electronic viewfinder (EVF)
which features a diopter adjustment dial positioned behind the
rubber eyepiece of the viewfinder.
To
the left of the viewfinder, a button labelled activates
the Self-timer (12 seconds) or the Remote Control which
is included with the camera.
In Playback, the button offers another function, labelled with serves
to delete unwanted images.
Direct buttons. When pressed,
these display an on-screen menu and the desired setting is selected
with the Control Dial. Moreover, many of these provide an additional Submenu when
the button is held and the OK button at the centre of
the Arrow Pad pressed simultaneously.
P-AF/ indicates that the C-8080 is set
to use both its contrast detection system,
and its phase difference detection system
(the C-8080 also has a focus assist light when the ambient
light is poor). Should the phase difference detection
be turned off in the Focus Mode screen, the first optionin
the screen shown below would only appear as AF.
The next option is for the standard Macro mode,
providing a focus range of 20 to 80 cm (0.7 to 2.6 ft).
MF indicates Manual Focus, which places a
distance indicator on the screen.
Super Macro mode which lock the zoom at the ideal
position to achieve focus on a subject a mere 5cm (2 inch)
from the front of the lens.
And the last option is Super Macro mode with
Manual Focus.
Pressing the OK button in the middle of the Arrow
Pad to the right of the LCD screen, pops-up a group of
additional options. The first of these, Focus Mode is
effectively the same set of options as are called up when
the focus button is pressed — a somewhat confusing
thing.
(the focus selection menu above is presented on a black
background to improve legibility)
The three other options of this
submenu provide choices for:
the AF Mode, either iESP which is an automatic
multi-point AF system, or Spot which focuses where the
AF brackets are.
Full time AF (On or Off), which when On lets
the camera continuously adjust the focus.
And P-AF (phase detection) which can be set to
On or Off.
Finally, in the Playback mode, the button serves
to Lock one or more photos, preventing their accidental
erasure.
The remaining three buttons in that area of the C-8080 function similarly
and offer quick access to:
Exposure Compensation: ±2EV
in 1/3 or 1/2 EV increments (the increment is selected
in the Setup Mode — see the Characteristics section
of the review).
Pressing the OK button while holding in the exposure compensation
button pops-up a submenu to control the histogram display, and
which also allows picking the area that is used to calculate
the histogram:
OFF: displays no histogram.
ON:
overlays a histogram when is
pressed.
ON: displays the histogram constantly.
DIRECT: highlights the dark and bright frame
areas by overlaying red rectangles on the mostly
white areas of the image, and blue rectangle on those
that are mostly black.
In Playback, the button serves to display
the shooting information (see the Characteristics
section of the review).
Flash Modes: (changing
flash modes requires that the pop-up flash of the C-8080
be open.) The available modes are Auto, Red-eye Reduction,
Fill-in Flash, Slow Synchronization, Flash Off.
Here again, a submenu is available by pressing the OK button
and its first option, Flash Modes, is a repeat of the choices
first displayed by pressing the Flash Mode button. The remaining
three options control:
Flash Compensation: ± 2EV in 1/3
or 1/2 EV increments.
Internal and External Flash: provides 3
settings. The first allows using the pop-up flash
and an external flash simultaneously, the second
only the external flash; the third allows controlling
the power of the pop-up flash when it is used in
conjunction with an external Slave flash in
the Manual shooting mode. The C-8080's flash shoe
is compatible with Olympus FL series flash
units, and many third party flash units.
Slow Synch Mode: provides 3 options, First
Curtain Slow synch, First Curtain Slow Synch with
Red-eye Reduction, Second Curtain Slow Synch.
In Playback, the button serves to Rotate an
image in 90° increments.
Flash Compensation:
the same option as can be accessed in the submenu of the
Flash mode button, can also be accessed directly by pressing
both the flash and exposure compensation buttons simultaneously.
Digital ESP: is an averaging type
metering pattern.
Spot
Metering: can be directed to any point
in the frame using the arrow pad.
Multi-metering: makes it possible to establish
the exposure based on the spot metering of up to 8
distinct points in the frame.
Worth noting, the Metering menu does not have a submenu.
In Playback, this button is to set the DPOF (Digital
Print Order Format) parameters. Photos can be selected,
as can the number of prints to make, and whether
or not these will show the date and/or time.
Three more buttons are located on the left side of the camera, but on the
edge of the lens barrel. The uppermost is the release button for
the pop-up flash. Next down is:
White balance:
Auto.
Preset 1: can be set for Shade, Cloud,
Sun, or Sunset.
Preset 2: can be set for incandescent
or any one of four types of fluorescent lighting.
Custom allows saving a white balance setting
and any customization for that setting into any
of 4 custom settings.
One touch: allows setting the white balance
for specific lighting.
And the submenu accessed by the OK button
allows adjusting each setting incrementally towards
red or blue, and applying the adjustment.
Resolution and Image Size:
Pressing the button
opens up a screen from which the image quality is selected,
and pressing the OK button opens a submenu of the
image sizes available for that particular format:
RAW is 3264 x 2448 exclusively. A JPEG
duplicate of the RAW image can be saved concurrently
using any of the formats listed below:
SHQ.
HQ.
SQ1.
SQ2.
TIFF:
Available at all images sizes.
SHQ:
3264 x 2448.
3264 x 2176 (3:2).
HQ:
3264 x 2448.
3264 x 2176 (3:2).
SQ1:
2592 x 1944.
2288 x 1712.
2048 x 1536.
SQ2:
1600 x 1200.
1280 x 960.
1024 x 768.
640 x 480.
The remaining control buttons on the C-8080 are to the right of the LCD
monitor. First is the QUICK VIEW button, a fast way to review the
last captured photo, and avoids having to switch to the Playback mode.
Next is the Arrow Pad with
the OK button at the centre. Unlike some other Olympus cameras,
with the C-8080, the Arrow pad serves exclusively for navigation.
OK, the button at the
centre of the arrow pad is used to call up menus, and submenu's
when one of the Direct buttons are being pressed. (See
the Characteristics section for an overview of the menus.)
The Monitor button serves primarily
to switch back and forth between the EVF and the LCD monitor.
In addition, if the button is pressed while the shutter
release is held halfway, the central part of the image
is enlarged, making it possible to check the focus.
Last on the back of the C-8080 is
the CF/xD button. The C-8080 is compatible with CompactFlash
Type I and II cards, and also has an xD memory slot. The button
serves to switch between one card and the other when both are
present. (For additional info on the memory card slots of
the C-8080 see the Characteristics section of the review.)
The C-8080 is equipped with a 1.8
inch hinged monitor that can be pulled away from the back
of the camera, tilted down to a 45° angle, and raised at
22°, 45°, or 90°. It cannot however, be turned
over 180° and be replaced so that the screen is facing
the back of the camera and is protected.
Still, the hinged monitor allows for overhead shots, and shots close to
the ground — as in often needed with
MACRO PHOTO
graphy — while still affording a clear view of the subject.
The C-8080's power button is probably the only not-so-perfect control,
and this because of its position. Placed very close to the Mode Dial, it
turns out that it is very easily brushed with the index while the dial
is turned, resulting in the camera unexpectedly powering off. However,
this is an observation that might be applicable only to people with large
hands.
Overall, the ergonomic design of the camera is one of the best, and we
expect most users will find it surprisingly easy to get used to the C-8080.
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Introduction
and
the Mode Dial (see the Characteristics section of the review
for an explanation of the recording modes available).
To
the left of the viewfinder, a button labelled 
activates
the Self-timer (12 seconds) or the Remote Control which
is included with the camera.
serves
to delete unwanted images.
serves
to Lock one or more photos, preventing their accidental
erasure.
